Adopted Daughter TORTURED to Death

A Washington mother kept her murdered 8-year-old adopted daughter’s corpse in her home for months, then transported it cross-country in a U-Haul trailer because she wanted to “spend more time with her”—a macabre finale to documented torture that security cameras captured day after day.

Story Snapshot

Mandie Miller and boyfriend Aleksander Kurmoyarov starved, restrained with zip ties, and tortured Miller’s adopted daughter Meela to death in September 2022, all recorded on home security cameras
The couple kept the 8-year-old’s body in their Spokane-area home for three months before placing it in a coffin and driving it to South Dakota in a U-Haul trailer
Miller received the maximum sentence of 32 years and 4 months on February 6, 2026, after pleading guilty to homicide by abuse and related charges
The victim was Miller’s biological niece whom she had adopted, revealing critical gaps in Washington state’s oversight of private family adoptions

Death by Restraint and Starvation

Meela Miller died in September 2022 after enduring systematic abuse that prosecutors called among the worst crimes against a child they had ever seen. Miller and Kurmoyarov bound the 8-year-old to a car seat with zip ties for hours at a time, repeatedly assaulted her, and withheld food until starvation killed her. The couple’s own home security system documented the relentless torture—hour upon hour, day after day—leaving prosecutors with undisputed video evidence of crimes so barbaric they defied explanation. Deputy Prosecutor Emily Sullivan presented footage showing the deliberate, prolonged nature of abuse that transformed a home into a torture chamber.

Three Months Living with a Corpse

After Meela died, Miller and Kurmoyarov made a choice that exposes the depths of their depravity or denial: they kept her body in their Airway Heights residence for three months. The couple later told authorities they wanted to spend more time with her, a justification that speaks either to profound psychological detachment or calculated obstruction. In December 2022, they rented a U-Haul trailer, placed Meela’s remains in a coffin, and embarked on a cross-country drive from Washington to Mitchell, South Dakota. Their plan unraveled when funeral home staff, suspicious about the lack of death certificates or proper documentation, contacted law enforcement. Police arrested both immediately.

Family Adoption Becomes Fatal Trap

Meela was not simply Miller’s adopted daughter—she was her biological niece, a family connection that should have provided safety but instead enabled unchecked violence. Miller herself had grown up in foster care, a background she referenced during her courtroom apology, claiming her own trauma while acknowledging Meela never deserved abuse. The aunt-to-niece adoption arrangement sidestepped many of the monitoring mechanisms that govern traditional foster or agency adoptions in Washington, leaving Meela isolated with her tormentors. No external intervention occurred until the funeral home call, a failure that demands scrutiny of how states oversee private family adoptions where biological ties can mask predatory intent.

Maximum Sentence and Pending Co-Defendant Fate

Spokane County Superior Court imposed the maximum sentence of 32 years and 4 months on Miller after she pleaded guilty to homicide by abuse, second-degree assault of a child, and two counts of unlawful imprisonment with domestic violence enhancements. The February 6, 2026, hearing spared the family a trial, granting what relatives called finality amid overwhelming grief. Family members, including Rose Miller who spoke on behalf of the “third child” lost and named after sister Amelia, offered tearful statements mixing forgiveness with pleas that no child suffer such cruelty again. Kurmoyarov faces his own sentencing on February 10, 2026, under a plea deal that removes the possibility of life imprisonment but ensures decades behind bars for his role in the murder and torture.

Unanswered Questions About Oversight Failures

This case raises urgent questions about Washington’s child welfare infrastructure and the blind spots in private adoptions. How did Miller’s home evade any wellness checks or neighbor reports despite months of abuse severe enough to kill? Why did security cameras record torture without triggering intervention from any outside party? Spokane County has faced documented challenges in child protection, but this case’s trajectory from adoption to death without a single red flag suggests systemic holes that demand immediate reform. The domestic violence enhancements on Miller’s charges acknowledge the home as a site of intimate partner abuse dynamics, yet Meela had no advocate, no caseworker, no mandatory follow-up—only cameras that documented her suffering for a future courtroom. Families deserve assurance that adoption, especially within biological networks, does not become a shield for predators.